Ben Askren: No apologies for style before Bellator 86 title fight with Amoussou

Ben Askren has heard the complaints. He knows there’s a good chance you’ve probably ripped him for his fight style, which is, ahem, wrestling.

Or the way his critics often put it, “boring wrestling.”

On Thursday, Askren (10-0 MMA, 7-0 BFC) puts his Bellator welterweight title on the line against Karl Amoussou (16-4-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) at Bellator 86.

“Bellator 86: Askren vs. Amoussou” takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. The event’s main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

But Askren not only doesn’t believe he needs to apologize for how he fights, he doesn’t believe most critics will ever change their tunes.

“I doubt it. I would be shocked (if they did),” Askren told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) this past fall. “It doesn’t bother me. I don’t think they appreciate what I’m doing. But I don’t expect them to appreciate it. The majority of MMA fans don’t have a great technical knowledge base. What they want to see is people snapping arms or people knocking people out, and there’s no appreciation for the finer points or jiu-jitsu or wrestling.

“But I’m OK with that. I know that, and it’s not like I either feel the need to change it, or two, to think I actually can change it.”

Askren believes Amoussou will try to take him right out of his game, and do so early. Askren is unbeaten. But he started his MMA career – after one of the most prestigious wrestling careers to ever transition to MMA – with four straight stoppages. Since then, he has six wins by decision.

Askren will be fighting for the first time since a decision win over Douglas Lima in April. Amoussou fought three times in 2012 to win Bellator’s welterweight tournament for his shot at Askren.

“I think the only thing I’ve got to fear is if he comes out with the bum-rush in the first two minutes,” Askren said. “That’s his strategy, if you want to call it that – and it’s a terrible strategy. But he comes out hard in the first couple minutes, and after that he really fades. So I’ll just come out to fight and I should be fine.

“If he doesn’t win in the first 90 seconds, he has zero chance of winning the fight. And in the first 90 seconds, he has about a 3 or 4 percent chance, maybe.”

The confidence Askren brings to the table against Amoussou is the same confidence he has when he brushes off criticism of his fighting style by saying he won’t change, and it’s on you if you can’t get on board with how he gets things done.

The polite term, of course, is “confidence.” Critics, naturally, call it cocky or arrogant. It’s a label Askren has had since high school.

“Since I’ve been 15,” he said. “That’s why nothing really bugs me. Fifteen, when forums got invented, I got in a forum and I was being an idiot. Someone said I was going to go crush this kid at state – but it wasn’t really me (who said it). But everyone said that I said it, and the media said it, so I just went with it and was like, ‘OK, I said it.’ Everyone hated me ever since then, but I just played the part.

“People don’t like that. People want you to say, ‘Oh, I’m going to try hard,’ and, ‘He’s going to be good,’ and, ‘Gee shucks, I hope I do well.’ Every single person who is successful thinks (like I do), but a lot of them just don’t say it. I’ve never been shy about my feelings.”

So don’t expect him to come out looking to change any opinions on Thursday.

While he’d no doubt take a knockout, it’s not as if he’s going out there looking for one against Amoussou. Or anyone else, for that matter.

“I started wrestling when I was 6 and reached my peak when I was 24,” he said. “So it took me 18 years to get that good. Am I going out there and looking for the knockout ever? Probably not. I doubt I’ll ever do that. I’m smart enough to stick with what I do well. I know I wrestle and use my offensive jiu-jitsu better than almost anyone in MMA right now. So I’m going to stick to my guns.”